Foil roll system



Feb. 16, 1965 e. s. NAGLE ETAL FOIL ROLL SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed June 18, 1958 INVENTORS. GARRETT 5f NAGLE 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTORS. GARRETT S NAGLE JOE E ROBEPSON 6 film- United States Patent3,169,300 F011 ROLL SYSTEM Garrett S. Nagle, Jackson Heights, N.Y., andJoe E. Roberson, Richmond, Va, assignors to Reynolds Metals Company,Richmond, Va, a corporation of Delaware ()riginal application June 18,1953, Ser. No. 742,847, new

Patent No. 3,049,229, dated Aug. 14, 1962. Divided and this applicationNov. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 160,957 7 2 Claims. (Ql. 29-18) I This inventionrelates to rolls of metal foil suitable for domestic and other uses, andmore particularly to a process for manufacturing rolls of plural layersof metal foil. This application is a division of our copendingapplication Serial No. 742,847 filed lune 18, 1958.

Aluminum foil has become widely accepted as a useful and attractivewrapping material for many household and other uses. For industrialpurposes, it is feasible to order a wide variety of rolls of foil, witha wide choice of gauges and widths, suited to the particularrequirements of each customer. For household use, the prac ticallimitations of the distribution system preclude offering the customersuch a wide choice, and efforts are concentrated on supplying areasonable variety to suit the average demand. For ordinary wrappingpurposes, rolls of foil 0.0007 inch gauge are customary, and for heavierwrapping purposes, foil of 0.001 or 0.0015 inch gauge has been offeredfor retail sale. 'le both the lighter and heavier gauges have found widepublic acceptance, keeping a supply of boxes of rolls of foil of boththe light and heavy gauges on hand at all times often presents a problemto the individual user, particularly in the ease of those users whoseldom require more than a small amount at a time of any one gauge.

In accordance with the present invention, the convenience of users offoil for wrapping and similar purposes, particularly small users, isgreatly improved, by winding plural layers of foil, instead of only asingle layer, into the rolls offered to retail customers. Each layer isin intimate surface contact with the next layer but not adhered thereto,so that the layers of foil can be used as a single composite sheet, or,alternatively, the plural layers can be detached from each other andused separately. The fact that the consumer has the option of using thesingle layers of foil enables him to multiply the effective length ofthe roll which he has purchased without any cost, whenever he feels thata lighter gauge of foil would serve his purpose. On the other hand, thecomposite sheet of unseparated plural layers is as easy to apply andclings as well as a conventional single layer of foil having the sametotal thickness, but the composite sheet is better than the single thicklayer because any pin holes which may occur in one of the plural layerswill almost never coincide with a pin hole in the other layer, whereasany pin hole in conventional foil will always extend straight throughthe single layer without any adjacent layer to block the opening.Consequently, the multi-layer foil provides a more securely impermeablebarrier against the penetration of moisture and gases, and it has thefurther advantage of being less likely to lose its impermeability as aresult of small tears and breaks which may occur during the wrap pingoperation.

The tendency of the composite plural layers of foil to remain togetheris enhanced when the rolls of plural layers of foil are packaged indispensing boxes having serrated cutting edges for severing successivelengths of the foil in the box. The preferred serrated cutting edges Iform a fine sawtooth pattern across the cut edge, which tends to holdthe cut edges together until the consumer chooses to separate themdeliberately. The invention further contemplates an improved system ofproducing Bdhhfihd Patented Feb. 16, 1965 rolls of multi-layer foil. Inthe course of conventional foil rolling operations, two strips of foilare doubled and run together in the last pass of the rolling milloperations. A roll of doubled foil is thus produced and it isconventional to respool this foil into two separate rolls, one for eachstrip, before the annealing operation which precedes the conventionalslitting and spool ing of the foil into rolls of retail size. Inaccordance with the present invention, the roll of doubled foil is runthrough a rewinding operation during which the two strips of foil areseparated from each other, but then the two strips are brought backtogether and wound on a single roll, which is thereafter annealed, slitand spool-e in the same way that conventional spools containing a singlestrip of foil are handled. The separation during the rewind-lugoperation before annealing prevents the multiple strips from stickingtogether during the subsequent operations, but bringing the strips backtogether into a single roll provides a roll which can be handled inaccordance with conventional procedures during annealing, slitting andspooling, and yet ultimately provides retail rolls containing multiplelayers of foil.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is now made tothe present preferred embodiments of the invention which are shown, forpurposes of illustration only, in the accompanying drawings. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing box containing a pluralroll of foil embodying the invention;

PEG. 2 is an end view of the roll of foil shown in FIG. 1, with the boxshown in section, and the foil drawn out and two sections of the foilcut away, one section having its layers of foil together, and the othersection having its layers of foil partially separated;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged crosssectional view, partially broken away, of acomposite sheet of two layers of foil of equal thickness;

FIG. 4 corresponds with FIG. 3, but shows the foil in two layers ofunequal thickness;

FIG. 5 is a semidiagrammatic end View of two layers of foil being passedbetween a pair of work rolls and taken up, in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 6 is a semidiagrammatic end view of the roll-ed foil of FIG. 5being rewound into a new roll, and separated by a bar before beingrewound; and

FIG. 7 is a semidiag-rammatic sectional view of the rewound roll of FIG.6 in an annealing furnace.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and initially to P16.1, there is illustrated a dispensing box 10 containing a roll 12 of acomposite strip of foil 14 made up of plural layers of foil in intimatesurface contact across the opposed faces thereof so that the layers tendto remain together until they are deliberately separated. The leadingend of the composite strip of foil 14 is adapted to be drawn over aserrated cutting edge mounted on box 10, for purposes of cutting sheets18 of the foil from the roll.

The serrations of the blade 16 impart a serrated edge to the cut ends ofthe sheets 13, and this cutting action aids in holding the layers offoil in the sheets 15 together as a unitary composite sheet suitable forwrapping purposes, particularly where a relatively thick sheet isdesired. A simple manipulation of the composite sheets 18 between thumband forefinger will initiate separation of the layers in the sheets,which can then be pulled apart to form separate sheets 24 and 22., asshown in FIG. 2. The separated layers of foil 24 and 2-2. are suitablefor wrapping purposes where relatively thin foil is sufficient. Whilethe unseparated composite sheets 18 provide a relatively strong wrappingmaterial, the separated layers 24 and 22 double the area of wrappingmaterial which can be obtained from roll 12, and consequently are moreeconomical. T The composite strip of foil 14 is preferably made up oftwo layers 22a and 24b of equal thickness, as shown;

in FIG. 3, because this form of composite strip is the most readilyproduced with a minimum departure from conventional foil product-ionpractices. It is conventional to combine two strips of foil 26 and 28and roll them together between a pair of work rolls 30 and 32 at thelast stage of the foil rolling operation (FIG.

As the strips 26 and 28'leave the rollsfitl and 32they V operation likethat shown are taken up together in a roll 34. This roll isconventionallyreroll-ed into two separate rolls, one for each 1 of thestrips 26an-d 28, before the annealing operation. In accordance with thepresent invention, however, the roll 34 is rewound onto a single newroll 36, and as V the strips 26 and 28 pass between therolls 34 and 35.

they are separated by a separator bar 38, in order to prevent them frombecoming stuck togetherduring the annealing operation. The roll 36 ofstrips 26 and 28 is annealed in a conventional annealing furnace 40, inaccordance with conventional annealing practice for the same weight andsize of roll, in order to anneal the foil and substantially eliminatethe rolling foil slick. After annealing, the roll 36 is slit and spooledinto the retail rolls 12, and packaged into boxes 10, by conventionalmeans.

. The work rolls 30 and 32 impart a bright finish to the outer surfacesof the strips 26 and-28, so that the outer surfaces of the compositestrip 14 and of thecomposite sheets 18 are bright. The opposedcontacting surfaces of the strips 26 and 28' receive a matte finish asthey pass-through the work rollsS-ll-and 32, and consequently when thelayers 22 and 24 of the composite sheet 18 are pulled apart, they willeach be bright on in FIG. 6, except that more than two strips would betaken up on the mewound roll 36.

the, individual layers of foil is preferably a minimum of about 0.00035inch, and' preferably a maximum of about 0.001 inch, although both ofthese limits could be exceeded, if desired. The present preferredpractice of the invention is to use two foil layers of equal-thickness,preferably 0.0005 inch for each layer. The foil can be of any metal ormaterial, but is preferably dead soft,

slick-annealed aluminum foil having an aluminum content or at leastabout 99.35%.

While present preferred embodiments and practices of the invention havebeen illustrated and described, it will be understood that the inventionis not limited thereto,

but may be variously embodied and practiced within the scope of thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1.' A process for producing rolls of a composite double layer aluminumfoil for household and related uses comprising the stepsv of: passingtwo strips of aluminum foil while in intimate contact with each otherthrough a rolling mill to form aiirst roll of doubled aluminum foil,said strips tending to cling together as a result of .said'rolling milloperation, separating said strips formwing said doubled foil in thecourse of rewinding said first roll into a second rollof double layeraluminum foil, and annealing said double layer aluminum strip whilewound in said second roll, said prior step of sepa-' ratingsaid stripsof aluminum foil preventing said strips "from sticking during annealing,and respooling said douone side, and matte on the other. This differencein the appearance of the composite sheet 18, and the separated sheets'22and 24, makes-it easy to determine which thickness of foil is being usedat anytime.

The strips 26 and 23 in FIG. 5 are preferably offthe same gauge, inaccordance'with conventional practice,

but they can be of unequal gauge, in which case'the final compositestrip '14, and sheets 18, will have two' layers 22b and 24b of unequalthickness, as shown in FIG. 4. Such a composite sheet of two layers ofunequal thickness has the advantage of offering the user a choice ofthree differentthicknesses, depending on.

whether he uses the sheet in its unseparated composite b'le, layer ofaluminum foil from said second roll into smaller rolls of easilyseparable composite double layer aluminum foil.

' '2. A process of producing a roll of a'composite, and easily separabledouble layer aluminum foil from a first roll of double layeraluminumjfoil, said layers of foil tending to cling together to form asingle doubled foil while wound in said second roll, said separating of.said form, or uses the two layers separately. For example,

if one of. the sheets 24bis twice as thick as the other sheet 22b, theuser would have "a choice of the thickness of the thinner layer 22b,or'of the thicker layer 2411 (which is twice that of the thinner layer),or of the eombi'ned layers (three times that of the thinner 7 layer2215). It isalso possible to make the composite strip 14and sheets 18 ofmore than two layers of foil, if desired, preferably during apre-annealing rewinding in said first roll, comprising thesteps of:momentarily separating said strips forming said doubled foil in thecourse of winding said first roll into a second roll of doublelayerraluminum foil, and annealing said strip Poole et a1; June 22,1937.

2,179,461 Yoder Nov. 7, 1939 Y 2,642,764 Porth June 23, 1953 FOREIGNPATENTS Germany July 8,

For the purposes of the invention, the thickness of Q

1. A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ROLLS OF A COMPOSITE DOUBLE LAYER ALUMINUMFOIL FOR HOUSEHOLD AND RELATED USES COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: PASSING TWOSTRIPS OF ALUMINUM FOIL WHILE IN INTIMATE CONTACT WITH EACH OTHERTHROUGH A ROLLING MILL TO FORM A FIRST ROLL OF DOBULED ALUMINUM FOIL,SAID STRIPS TENDING TO CLING TOGETHER AS A RESULT OF SAID ROLLING MILLOPERATION, SEPARATING SAID STRIPS FORMING SAID DOUBLED FOIL IN THECOURSE OF REWINDING SAID FIRST ROLL INTO A SECOND ROLL OF DOUBLE LAYERALUMINUM FOIL, AND ANNEALING SAID DOUBLE LAYER ALUMINUM STRIP WHILEWOUND IN SAID SECOND ROLL, SAID PRIOR STEP OF SEPARATING SAID STRIPS OFALUMINUM FOIL PREVENTING SAID STRIPS FROM STICKING DURING ANNEALING, ANDRESPOOLING SAID DOUBLE LAYER OF ALUMINUM FOIL FROM SAID SECOND ROLLONTON SMALLER ROLLS OF EASILY SEPARABLE COMPOSITE DOUBLE LAYER ALUMINUMFOIL.